Persona Zeroes!
by UknownHero
Summary: Suicide rates have been recently increasing in Ikemasen, Japan and nothing seems to be working. Fear is running rampant across the state and Kirijo Group is doing it's best to reduce suicide rates in the town. It seems like a job for a Fool and his team, right? Well, the thing is... the Fool is the biggest scaredy cat in the country and he leads a team of cowards. Don't be afraid.
1. Chapter 1: First Day Fears

Well, this is a little bit more… unique. Hey, UknownHero here and welcome to the first chapter of Persona Zeroes! Yeah, I'm really pushing out these new fics, huh? Anyway, I thought up this idea while playing Persona Q and I've been around the Persona archive and it's just rehashes of Persona 3 or 4, which is starting to get a little boring. So, I asked myself, "Why not make your own?"

So… this is this fic.

This fic will use OCs as the main cast, though previous characters may have cameos.

Okay, let's do this.

New Game… Start!

Chapter 1: First Day Fears

 **(Igor has joined the Velvet Room)  
(Julie has joined the Velvet Room)**

 **Igor:** Our new guest is arriving soon, Julie. Make sure he feels welcome.

 **Julie:** Of course, but…

 **Igor:** What is it?

 **Julie:** This… isn't like any of the Velvet Rooms I've seen. Where's… the room part?

 **Igor:** The Velvet Room has many forms, each one unique to each guest. It is a place between consciousness and subconsciousness. It can be anything, but it will always have the same purpose. To serve our guest so they may continue down their path. And this guest will not be like the others, so it will be appropriate for their Velvet Room to be not like the others.

 **Julie:** I know that our next guest will be unique but still… it would be-

 **(The Fool has joined the Velvet Room)**

 **Igor:** Welcome to the Velvet Room.

 **The Fool:** who r u what is this whats happening wait why am i a fool

 **Igor:** Please use proper grammar and spelling in the Velvet Room. My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a "contract" may enter. It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future.

 **The Fool:** I don't remember signing a contract.

 **Julie:** Well, you did at some point.

 **The Fool:** And who are you?

 **Julie:** I am Julie. I will be here whenever you need me. For you to be a guest here… you must be really unique.

 **The Fool:** …How? What? My head hurts…

 **Julie:** Be aware that new roads lie ahead, and from there you will see new faces and create new bonds who will guide you down these roads. Igor and I are thrilled to have you as a guest, and look forward to the journey you are about to embark on.

 **Igor:** We shall discuss details at another time, but for now, farewell.

 **The Fool:** What are you talking about? Why me? Why-

 **(The Fool has left the Velvet Room)**

"BOO!"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Hahahahahaha! Man, seven years later and you're still the little scaredy cat I know." His sister laughed out. After recovering from the heart attack, he gave his older sister a quick glare before sighing. Today marked the first day of school in the town they had just moved in about a month ago, Ikemasen. It wasn't big, but they still needed to take the train to school,

'She had to go for the view…' He thought as he sighed as he looked at his big sister, 'We had to live halfway across town just for the view.'

"Aw… you know I was joking right?" His sister said as she rubbed his back, "I love you, little bro."

"Well, if you love me, how about not scaring your little brother out of bed every day." He was going to say, but it got caught in his throat and was only able to make choking sounds, causing his big sister to sigh,

"You really haven't over it, huh?" She muttered. It's been, what? Eight years since then? She sighed again and look at her little brother, "Yeah, eight years."

She sighed again. Almost a decade since that incident. For eight years she has been taking care of him, trying to get him to speak to other people, and generally trying to get him to get over his fear of bugs, heights, other girls, guys with creepy mustaches, other girls, mice, darkness, lamps, books, horror movies, other girls, comedy, milk, other girls…

Okay, to save some time, he had Panophobia/Pantophobia. The fear of everything.

Now, he wasn't afraid of everything… just most things. Hell, the only reason he wasn't suffering a panic attack right now was because he was with his sister. And she will always be by her sibling's side no matter what.

Take now for instance. He was 16, turning 17 next year. She was 18, turning 19 next week. Not even school, her education and the government will separate her from her precious little brother.

Speaking of school, they had arrived at their destination: Ike High.

"Come on, we're here." His big sister said as she grabbed their bags and got him off the train. He was shivering already and they haven't even seen another human being on the train. She sighed. She hoped getting there early would at least calm him down, but it seemed that it was going to be another long day for her.

She smiled at the prospect of that.

(Some time later)

He fidgeted around as he and his sister stood up in front of the class. He tried to focus on something, anything to force the fact that everyone was staring at him from his mind. Like his and his sister's uniform.

They both wore white, short-sleeve dress shirts with messily tied ties around their necks, his tie being much messier that his sister's. They also wore burgundy blazers over them, though he kept his unbuttoned unlike his sister. He focused his mind down to the lower parts of their bodies, with him wearing cream slacks and his sister wearing a black and green plaid skirt with black stockings to go with it. And finally, he finished off with their footwear. He hoped his plain black sneakers didn't violate the dress code while his sister wasn't worried, because it was either part of the dress code or, was more likely, she didn't care as she wore black boots to school.

"Okay class, if you aren't already aware, we have two new transfer whatever whatever, just introduce yourselves." Mr. Taidana of Class 2-1 said lazily before sleeping in his chair,

"You go first." His sister whispered into his ear. He started sweating now as he saw everyone staring at him. Judging him. Picking apart everything from his clean cut dark brown hair and his silver eyes. He could hear his heart beating louder and louder as he tried to say something, anything. Just to get these eyes off him!

'Stop staring. Stop staring!' He thought as he tried to speak, but nothing really came out. Finally, his sister had enough,

"Ugh! My name is Herupā Subete and this nervous wreck is my little brother, Osore! HOPE WE CAN ALL BE FRIENDS!" Herupā shouted out before fixing her glasses and dragging Osore to his seat, which was right next to her, "You really need to learn to stop being afraid of everything." Heru said as she played a little with her chocolate brown hair, which was tied up with a pony tail, "At least learn to speak normally. At least speak to me."

'But I can't.' Osore thought before jumping in his seat when Mr. Taidana before whimpering, causing the class to giggle at him. Osore didn't know how he was going to survive the year.

(After School)

"Well, we managed to stumble through that one, huh?" Heru said as they walked down the street. They had just gotten off the train a few minutes ago and had to walk the rest of the way home. While it would've been nice if their train arrived closer to their home, they were kinda happy that the way home included cutting through the shopping district. They were eating meat buns Osore bought (well, actually Heru bought them but he gave her the money) and were having one of their (in)famous one-sided conversations, "I mean, it has to be the first good first day in a long time. I knew this time I would get this right. Now, to get you over your fears." Osore nodded before noticing how low the sun was. He then started walking faster, "Oh it's getting late. We should hurry."

'Please do.' Osore thought as they picked up the pace. As soon as they got to the apartment, they kicked off their footwear, turned on the lights before separating and doing their own thing. There was one exception to Osore's fear of everything, and that was cooking. Well, it was more like he _was_ afraid, but gathered up his courage and learned how to cook. After Heru's attempt at pie, he decided he was more scared of Heru's cooking ability than a kitchen knife. Anyway, Heru has jumped up on the couch and turned on the TV,

" _And that was Chihiro Parker with the weather. In other news, another citizen has committed suicide making it a grand total of 6 suicides this week alone in Ikemasen. Ever since November of last year, suicide rates have been spiking dramatically and all of them seem to be happening at exactly midnight. It is unknown why the sudden spike in suicide rates, and psychologists have been baffled and scratching their heads wondering how this occurred. Multiple Anti-Suicide programs have been launched since, yet none have been successful in reducing rates. Kirijo Group CEO, Mitsuru Kirijo, has released a public statement today about the issue._ "

"Whoa, I didn't know there were so many suicides here…" Heru muttered as Osore gave her dinner, "Thanks." She said before turning up the volume as a red haired woman appeared on screen,

" _All these deaths in Ikemasen over the year have gotten everyone in Japan worried but I assure you that we will be working every day of every hour until these suicides have been dealt with! From this day forth, we will be funding 23 projects that will ensure that suicide rates will be reduced. While I must be obligated to say this may not completely eradicate the problem, I am sure that one day we will!_ "

"BOO!"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Osore screamed out as Heru laughed,

"Oh, that never gets old!" She said between laughs while wiping away her tears before noticing that Osore wasn't breathing heavily or clutching his chest.

For the first time in 8 years… he was angry.

"…You. Don't. Care?" Osore said slowly and he clenched his fists, "You… don't care… that… so many people… are… are…"

"Little brother, it was only a little prank. Anyway, it's not like we know these-"

*SLAP!*

He didn't know he had it in him, but it was there. And he had done it. After 8 years of her torment, this was where he drew the line, "You… you…" Osore struggled to speak, tears forming at the edges of his eyes,

"O-Osore…" Heru stuttered as she shakily stood up, "Please, don't-" She tried to reach out to him but he slapped her hand away,

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Osore shouted out before storming out of the apartment and into the night, leaving Heru alone. He wasn't afraid to go out in the middle of the night; his rage overpowered his fear of darkness. By the time he had calmed himself down it was almost midnight, which caused him to panic, "No no no no no…" Osore said as he froze in place. He was alone in the middle of the night, where anything can happen to him. Muggers, hobos, rapists. He needed his sister. No matter how much he hated her at the moment, he still needed her. And with that, he just started running towards the apartment.

Then, it struck midnight.

"No. No. NO!" Osore yelled out, not caring about waking people up. He was vulnerable, afraid and alone. He just wanted to see his sister. Cry into her arms, apologize, just something to help him. Then he froze as he remembered the spiking suicide rates.

Is she… going to…

" **DON'T DIE**!" Osore yelled out before collapsing onto the concrete beneath him, letting unconsciousness embrace him.

(3 hours later)

When Osore came to, he felt as though he didn't sleep at all. He wasn't tired or anything, it was more like he just closed his eyes for a few seconds. Before he could check the time, he realized he still in the middle of the street and was still pretty far from home. He could hear his heart beat faster as he got up and started running to the apartment building, not noticing the blood splattered around and the entire city gaining a green hue. When he finally arrived however, his heart stopped.

In front of him was a giant black dome where the apartment building should be.

He could _feel_ fear emitting from it. Like, it was crushing his chest just by being near this dome of shadows. He wanted to run away. He wanted to crawl into a corner and cry. He wanted this entire dome to disappear so he could see his big sister again.

But… he didn't.

"I-I…" Osore muttered to himself as he took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down, "I-I can do t-th-this." In the back of his mind, he knew she needed something to protect himself if he was going to enter the thing. So, he looked around and spotted a large branch that had fallen off a tree. He quickly grabbed it and did a few swings. They were… pathetic, to say the least, but at least he could defend himself now. He walked up the dome of darkness and took a shuddering breath. He really didn't want to do this but his sister was in this thing, somewhere. He had to get her.

He was scared, but he wasn't going to let his fear control him.

Osore closed his eyes and stepped into the dome.

And fell.

For a really long time.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Osore yelled as he screamed all the way down before landing roughly on the ground, face first. Osore groaned as he got up and looked around, only to see darkness. He panicked quickly searched his pockets before finding his keys, which had a flashlight keychain on it. He turned it on, and saw that it was just a massive empty room with a light in the middle. The walls were pitch black, the floor was pitch black and in the centre was someone he couldn't recognize from the distance he was at. The light was on this person and the person seemed to be… crying, "Maybe, maybe this guy's one causing this." Osore muttered to himself before checking he still had his stick before heading towards the light.

That's when he first encountered _them_.

Out of nowhere, three… things popped out in from of him, causing him to back. They looked like black goop with masks on them, and they didn't look like they wanted to talk.

Osore started crawling at the sight of these things. He had no idea how to fight goo! He way too over his head! He knew this was a mistake! He looked up and saw that one of the them were going to attack him.

"Heru… I'm sorry…" Osore whispered before bracing himself.

Then, he heard a voice.

 _ **I am thou… and thou art I…**_

 _ **From the sea of thy soul, I come…**_

"I am thou…" Osore said as he slowly stood up, "And thou art I…" He raised his right arm as _something_ started forming in his fist, "From the sea of my soul, you come…"

 _ **I am Phobos…**_

 _ **And I am the one that you should only be afraid of…**_

"PERSONA!" Osore yelled out before crushing the thing in his fist and throwing it into the air, the shards of the item glowing green before it start forming Osore's Persona.

It was a large, young man with light green skin with a lion with glowing green eyes for a head, wearing a chest plate and greaves, holding a lantern in his left hand and a two-handed sword in his right.

Now, Osore would've probably fainted or wet his pants at the sight of this… thing, but for some reason, he felt safe. Like…

He wasn't afraid anymore.

He looked at the Cowardly Maya and smiled before raising his hand, "Mudo." He said, before Phobos charged at the three monsters. It shot from it's lantern a ball of dark energy at one of them. The Cowardly Maya got hit and was instantly destroyed. The other Cowardly Mayas could only look as one of them were eliminated, but didn't have time as Osore charged in, stick in hand,

"Buchikamashi!" He yelled, ignoring the pain as he bashed a Maya as hard as he could before dodging an attack from the other one. He quickly countered before finishing off. He looked at Phobos and smiled. He guessed he smiled back before transforming back into the item that summoned him. It looked like a key and it had a mask on it. "A key?" Osore muttered to himself before shrugging and putting the key into his pocket, 'Oh well, it lets me get Phobos out and I'm not…' He froze in place as he realized something.

What the hell did he just do?

Well, it didn't matter now. He needed to save his sister. So he just ran as fast as he could, hoping that she was unharmed.

(Some time later)

Osore was still walking towards the light, yet it never seemed to get close. He encountered more of those monsters and he started getting used to having Phobos around and the whole Persona thing, despite not knowing much about it. Although he was still afraid, he started getting used to the darkness around him as long as he had his flashlight on his person.

"I wonder why a key out of all things though." Osore said out loud as he pulled it out. Whatever it was, he had a feeling this wasn't going to be a onetime thing,

"O-Osore…" He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Heru calling out for him,

"Heru, I'm here. Where-"

"P-Please… don't leave… I don't wanna be alone…" Osore could now hear her sniffling and crying, "I don't wanna be alone…"

"Herupā!" Osore called out, "Herupā! Big sis! I'm here! Where are you!?"

"O-Osore, don't leave me…" Osore looked and saw that Heru was the one in the spotlight. He was about to run and get her until he noticed something really worrying.

Dark liquid was coming out of Heru's back and was forming the black dome.

"He-Heru, what's that stuff coming from your-"

"O-Osore?" Heru looked up from her fetal position and looked around, "Osore, are you there?"

"I'm here!" Osore called out, finally reaching the spotlight. He was about to touch Heru's shoulder, only to be blow away by some sort of force, "Ow…"

"Who are am I kidding? He's gone…" Heru said as she slumped back, "He's never gonna come back… after all I did…"

"Hm?" Osore groaned as he got up, 'What did you do?'

"I-I flunked my exams just so I c-could be with him at school, I keep scaring him just so he'd stay with me forever, I threatened people who even got near him and all I'm doing is delaying the inevitable!" Heru cried out, "All be-b-because I-I-I don't wanna be alone! I DESERVE TO DIE!" Suddenly, a cage formed around Heru as the ground started to shake,

"Heru…" Osore whispered before a large Shadow started to form around Heru's cage. He slowly started backing away as it took form. It seemed to look like carbon copy of Phobos, except completely black and holding Heru's cage instead of a lantern and wielded an axe instead of a sword. In the back of his mind, he only heard a name, "Shadow Deimos." Osore muttered. He pulled out the key and looked at it before crushing it, "Heru… you're not alone." He said, hoping she could hear him before throwing the shards into the air, "Let's do this Phobos!" He called out as he summoned his Persona, "Mudo!" Phobos nodded before shooting balls of dark energy at it. It didn't even flinch as it tanks it, not even looking worse for wear. He decided to go for broke and hit it with his stick. He rushed up and took a swing at it, only for it to dodge and counter by clawing at him. He braced for the attack, only for Phobos to shield him before the claw reached him, 'I can't beat this thing alone.' Osore thought as he stumbled out of the way of another attack, "Heru! Come on! I know you can hear me!" Osore shouted out, "Help me!"

"I'm going to die alone… I'm going to die alone…" Heru kept chanting out,

"Snap out of it!" Osore yelled out before performing Cleave, but the attack bounced off, "Damn it, what am I supposed to do?" He started hyperventilating as he felt the air starting to suffocate him. The energy emitting from Shadow Deimos was crushing his lungs and it was growing more powerful by the second by the second, "Heru, you aren't alone! Just listen to me!"

"Please… leave me alone…" Osore started to panic. Nothing seemed to be working. Phobos was doing his best to hold off Shadow Deimos but he was starting to lose. He felt weak. He couldn't do anything to save his sister. He… he… he…

He didn't want to be alone.

"…I understand…" Osore said, struggling to get up, "What it means to be alone."

"NO YOU DON'T!" Heru yelled out. Osore quickly braced himself as he was blown away by a force,

"Yes I do!" Osore retorted, now standing up, "The empty feeling left behind... when they're not with you… it hurts." Osore covered his ears as he heard Shadow Deimos yell out in pain, "But you're never alone, you have friends, right?"

"N-No…" Heru admitted, her tone becoming calmer and less frantic. Shadow Deimos screamed out in pain as the darkness started to melt off it. Osore saw that his key was glowing green now, but it was faint,

'I need to make it stronger.' Osore thought as he continued, "Even if I'm not with you, I'll stay by your side. No matter what!" Shadow Deimos' screams were starting to become quieter as it became weaker, "You're not alone, so don't be afraid!"

"I-I'm not alone…" Heru whispered to herself before looking up and seeing her little brother holding out his arm. Her eyes widened before she got up and ran towards him, not caring about the cage as she fazed through it, "OSORE!" Heru called before jumping into his arms,

"Don't be afraid, I'll stay by your side until the end." Osore whispered into her ear. They let go of each other when they heard Shadow Deimos cry out in pain. It looked like it was about to kneel over. Osore had to finish this now, "Let's end this." Osore muttered to himself as he and Heru walked up to the weak Shadow, stick in hand as he listened to the voice inside his head.

 _ **Your fears are my fears.  
Your problems are my problems.  
As underneath it all, we're all cowards.  
And the first step in conquering your fear…**_

"Is to realize you're never alone in this world." Osore & Heru finished off before Osore finished it off with Buchikamashi. Suddenly, something started to form in front of Heru as light started to pour into the place. When it finished forming, Heru realized it was it was a marble as Osore took out the key. They saw Shadows closing in to their position in an attempt to keep the dome up. Osore and Heru looked at each other before crushing their items.

"PERSONA!" And with that, they unleashed Phobos & Deimos.

Brother & sister.

The Fool & the Devil.

(The Next Day)

"…Thank you." Heru said as they walked to the train station. They had both fallen unconscious when the dome fell after they had fought off the monsters. When they woke up, they found themselves in the apartment. They hoped it was a dream, but that shattered when they saw that the key and marble had turned in necklaces for them. They were silent the entire time they got themselves ready, just processing what had happened last night. It was crazy really, but the silence was driving Herupā nuts, "For… stuff, I guess."

"I-I-It's f-f-f-fine." Osore stuttered out. Heru giggled at little at his speech pattern,

"Well, it's a definite improvement. Maybe we can work on full sentences next time."

"Y-You n-ne-n-never g-g-go-go through w-w-wi-wit-w-with i-it t-th-t-though." Osore muttered,

"Well now I am!" Heru proudly declared, "From this day forth, your big sis gonna make a man outta you!"

'That's gonna go well…' Osore thought as they stepped onto the train, "P-Promise?" Osore asked as he held out his hand,

"Oh, it is so a promise." Heru replied as they shook hands.

*SHATTER!*

 _ **I am thou… and thou art I…  
Thou hast established a new bond…  
It brings thee closer to overcoming the obstacles that block your way…  
Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas  
of the Devil Arcana.**_

Osore looked at the key hidden underneath his dress shirt and he knew what he had to do next.

But first, he really needed a phone.

Save Game… Quit!

(Character Profiles)

 **Name** : Osore N. Subete  
 **Gender** : Male  
 **Age** : 16  
 **Arcana** : Fool  
 **Initial** **Persona** : Phobos (A young, light green man with the head of a lion, clad in armour and holding a lantern in his left and a two-handed sword on his right.)  
 **Weapon & Light**: One-handed weapons and various light sources (Starts with keychain flashlight)  
 **Skilled In:** Dark & Bash/Cut  
 **Afraid of** : Various  
 **Charm** : Velvet Room Key  
 **Profile** : After an unfortunate incident, Osore N. Subete has been afraid of practically everything. From bugs to heights, he spent 8 years too afraid to even talk. But when his back is against the wall, he will get over his fears to help his friends and fight to save people. If he ever gains any friends, that is…

 **Name** : Herupā N. Subete  
 **Relation to The Fool** : Older Sibling  
 **Gender** : Female  
 **Age** : 19  
 **Arcana** : Devil  
 **Initial Persona** : Deimos (A young woman with similarities to Phobos but has a head of a lioness and wields an axe instead.)  
 **Weapon & Light**: Guitars and a flashlight  
 **Skilled In** : Fire & Cut  
 **Afraid of** : Being alone for the rest of her life  
 **Charm** : Marble  
 **Profile** : After an unfortunate incident 8 years ago, Herupā N. Subete (or Heru) has been taking care of her little brother ever since. Fearing that once Osore gets over his fears and leaves, she actively pulls pranks on him and scares him in order to keep him around for longer, but knows some day she will be alone. She even deliberately sabotaged her grades in order to be closer to her sibling. After getting over her fear, she aims to cure Osore of his crippling phobia.

(Terms)

 **VelvetRoomDotExe** : Osore's version of the Velvet Room, it allows him to access the Velvet Room at anytime, anywhere from his laptop or phone. VelvetRoomDotExe is a chat room, allowing Osore to communicate with Igor and his resident, Julie, as well as fuse and manage his Personas and check out the Compendium. To others, it looks like he's playing a game or texting a friend. It still requires a key to access it though.

 **Charms** : How the Osore and Herupā summon their Personas. These charms represent the users' biggest fear. By crushing it and throwing it into the wind, it shows that they've conquered their phobia and they are willing to face it and turn it into strength, drawing out their Persona from the sea of their soul. The exception is Osore's charm, which is powered by his overwhelming fear of everything, but is able to draw out his Persona because he doesn't let his fears get in the way of his destiny.

Whew! Done! This probably sucks but whatever. But, I'm stuck on other characters. If you're interested, send me a Character Profile either wither through PM or reviews. All submissions will be taken under consideration. See ya whenever!

UknownHero signing off, my friends!


	2. Chapter 2: Being Myself

Hello, and welcome to another chapter of Persona Zeroes! Eh, I got bored and I don't feel like doing any of my other fics. Now, the whole Character Profile thing is still up so if you have an idea for an OC, PM me or put it into the reviews. Okay, are we set? Let's go!

Load Game… Start!

Chapter 2: Being Myself

 **(The Fool has joined the Velvet Room)**

 **Igor:** Welcome to the Velvet Room. How will we be of service?

 **The Fool:** Just a quick question. What the hell just happened? I was talking to my sister and then… what does it mean?

 **Julie:** You have established a special bond with your sister. You can now create and use Personas of the Devil Arcana.

 **The Fool:** And that's good because…

 **Igor:** You have the Fool Arcana. The number zero. Empty, yet filled with infinite possibilities. Because of that, you have the power of the Wild Card, the ability to use multiple Personas. As you strengthen your bonds, you strengthen the Persona of that Arcana.

 **The Fool:** Wait, I have to… interact with people?

 **Julie:** Yes, why? Is that a problem?

 **The Fool:** …

 **(The Fool has left the Velvet Room)**

'This is gonna suck.' Osore thought as Heru took out her guitar, 'And this is not going to work at all.'

"Osore, this is for your own good." Heru said as she tuned her guitar,

"H-H-How i-is-i-is f-f-f-fo-forming a sc-sc-s-school b-b-band g-g-go-going to h-h-h-help?" Osore asked, nervously staring at the bass in his hands. It was a week since Heru unlocked her Persona and they've been trying to figure out how they were supposed to use them. Right now, they were just running around, blind, with no idea what to do. Anyway, right now, Heru managed to convince a teacher to let them use an empty room after school for a club they were forming. Osore wondered how she managed but he learned it was best not to ask,

"One, we need to make friends and fast. I don't want a repeat of that dark place again." Heru explained as she played a note, "Two, I always wanted to play in a band but I was too busy taking care of you to really go out and find one or make one myself until today. And three, this will force social interaction with our bandmates and you need that interaction. I don't want you to be a scaredy cat forever. We made a promise."

"Y-Y-Y-Yeah, bu-but-" Osore paused as he remembered what Igor had said about Social Links and thought about it. He didn't really fully understand what Igor had told him, but all he knew was that he needed friends to strengthen his Personas. Despite the fact that he had zero social skills. He sighed in defeat. This was gonna blow, "F-F-Fine…"

"Sweet! Now, who do we want in our band?" Heru muttered to herself, "And what do we call ourselves?" They thought about for a few seconds before Heru got fed up with it, "Oh, whatever, we can work on it tomorrow, right? Come on, let's pack it up. We're gonna be late for the train."

"O-Okay." Osore muttered before gathering up his stuff. On the way to the train station, he started thinking about how they were supposed to get more people into their band. If they were really going to do this, Osore wasn't planning on slacking. Not after that night with their Personas, "Don't be afraid, Osore." He whispered to himself before looking up at the setting sun, "Be brave for once in your life."

(The Next Day)

"So this is one of Kirijo's Anti-Suicide programs, huh? A freaking phone?" Heru muttered to herself. It was strange. When she and Osore arrived at school, they were given smartphones for free by representatives of Kirijo Group. They had told them (while Osore was hiding behind his sister) that by giving students something that will help manage their lives, it could reduce suicide rates by a significant amount. Heru couldn't help but find it strange, but it made sense to her and free stuff was free stuff, "Not that I'm complaining. Hey, what do you think about these thing, Osore?" No response, "Osore?" Heru turned her head to see her sibling staring at the phone, "Uh… bro?"

"H-H-Hey, d-d-d-do y-yo-y-you h-h-ha-have s-s-something c-c-called V-V-V-VelvetRoom on y-y-yours?" Osore asked. Heru raised one of her eyebrows and looked at Osore's phone,

"I don't have an app called that. Why do you ask?" Heru replied. Osore sighed before shutting off his phone,

"N-Nothing." He murmured before noticing that there was a crowd blocking their way to class, "Oh no…"

"Oh my god, this guy…" Heru groaned. Emerging from the crowd of girls, covered in lipstick and claw marks was their classmate, his platinum blonde hair messy, and his pale skin unblemished and having an expression that said 'Yes, I _am_ the reincarnation of Johnny Depp' was Kiken'na Koibito. The Dangerous Lover.

No one knew _why_ he was called the Dangerous Lover, but the ladies loved him so it really didn't matter.

"Oh, the Subete Siblings. Nice to meet you on such a fine morning. I see you've gotten yourselves the phones being given out by Kirijo." Koibito said as he walked up to the siblings, "Why don't we all hang out some time? I'll give you my number." Osore whimpered as Koibito approached them,

"How about no." Heru answered coldly. It was only a week but by the end of that week, it was firmly established that Heru & Koibito weren't going to be friends any time soon, "We're a little too busy not giving a crap about you."

"DON'T YOU TALK TO KOIBITO-KUN LIKE THAT!" A girl from the crowd shouted out as the other girls yelled out in agreement,

"He's my classmate! I can speak to him however I want to!" Heru called back before shaking her head, "Speaking of class, tell those girls to get lost. Classes are starting soon."

"That's not what Sapōto-chan says." Koibito said smugly, causing Heru to look confused,

"'Sapōto-chan'? Who the hell is Sapōto?"

" **That would be me**!"

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Osore screamed out in terror as he almost dropped his phone. On his screen was a 14 year old girl with pink hair, green eyes and wearing a pink blouse and a dark green skirt with pixie wings on her back, "H-HUH!?"

"What. The Hell." Heru said as she stared at Osore's phone screen, "What do these people think we are?"

" **I am the Specialized Assistant & Personnel Operator of Tomorrow!**" The A.I. introduced herself, " **Call me Sapōto-chan! I was created by Kirijo Group to ease the burdens of every day school life and make people happy! I'm completely customizable so don't be afraid to play around with me! I can even be Sapōto-kun! I hope we'll be best friends forever!** " This… really creeped out the Subete Siblings and made them wonder what was going through the head of whoever created Sapōto-chan,

"As you can see, Sapōto-chan helps with my busy schedule so how about we try and work out our differences?" Koibito offered. Heru scowled at him,

"How about you get lost and go-"

"O-Okay." Osore replied,

"WHAT!?" Heru & Koibito exclaimed. Both were surprised that Osore did that,

"W-W-We'll t-tr-t-tr-try." Osore said as he held out his hand, "D-D-D-Does su-s-su-s-s-sushi af-a-a-after sc-s-school s-s-s-sound g-g-g-good?"

"S-Sure." Koibito replied as he shook Osore's hand,

" **Sushi with Koibito has been scheduled. I'll alert you 30 minutes before you have to go.** " Osore's Sapōto-chan said,

" **Alert! Class is starting in 30 seconds! You better hurry before you're late!** " Koibito's Sapōto-chan warned. The crowd of girls dispersed to get their classes before they got in trouble,

"Let's just go." Heru grumbled before she dragged the two boys to class. As Osore was being dragged, he realized something.

Was this a potential Social Link?

(After School)

It was pretty quiet at the sushi place Osore picked as they silently ate their food. All of them wanted to leave, but outside forces were keeping them together. It was really awkward, "So… I heard you guys are forming a Light Music Club or something, right? Do you think I can join?" Koibito spoke up, trying to alleviate the silence,

"If you join, I'll make sure you won't have children." Heru calmly threatened before silence returned,

"I-I-I-I-" Osore tried to say something, but ended up dying in his throat. He was afraid he might make the situation worse or something. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife, 'Oh boy.'

"Look, I don't what you're trying to do, but I don't care." Heru stated, "So, what do you want? You want me to be your girlfriend? Because you really need to work on your act."

"My act?" Koibitio said, looking rather nervous,

"Yeah, your stupid act." Heru said before chuckling, "I mean for God's sake, it's so painfully obvious that your act is so _fake_!" The word seemed to echo around the place as people started to look at them. Osore sunk down under the table as he felt the looks on them,

'Welp, there goes a Social Link… I think.' Osore thought under the table, trying to forget the stares, 'I don't what I'm doing…'

"Hey, he's gone." Heru told her little brother. Osore poked his head out and saw that Koibito didn't even finish his sushi,

"Wh-w-w-wh-w-where d-d-di-did h-h-h-he g-g-g-go?" Osore asked,

"Dunno. Just ran off." Heru said before she started eating Koibito's sushi. Osore just gave Heru a scolding look, "What? I'm paying, so I may as well eat. Want some?" Osore thought about it before he shrugged and joined her. There was no point in letting food go to waste after all.

(10:00pm)

"T-Th-That wa-w-wa-was pr-p-pre-p-pretty ha-h-har-h-harsh b-b-b-back th-t-th-there, H-H-Heru." Osore said as he shut off his phone and looked for his flashlight,

"Hey, I was only telling the truth." Heru said as she used duct tape to attach her flashlight to the neck of the guitar, "There's something up with him. I know it."

"St-St-S-Still…" Osore said before switching the old batteries in his flashlight for new, fresh ones, "W-W-Whatever. L-L-Let's…" Osore took a deep breath before putting on a determined face, "Let's do this."

"You know the whole Persona thing was a onetime thing." Heru said. They've gone out and tried to summon their Personas but haven't been having much luck. If anyone noticed them, they would've seen two teenagers calling out "Persona!" and trying to crush a key and a marble with their bare hands, and failing completely,

"We have to try." Osore said before they headed out.

(11:59pm)

"Come on, Phobos." Osore grumbled, "Do your… thing… whatever, ugh…"

"Maybe we should just give up." Heru said as she sighed, "We should get to sleep soon. I'm planning to hold auditions for a drummer, a keyboardist, a…" Suddenly, the clock hit midnight as they saw a large black dome appear in the distance. As well as several others, "Oh…"

" **Anomalies detected! Number of anomalies detected: Four!** "

"WHAT THE-" Osore screamed out as he looked for the source before pulling out the new smartphone and saw that Sapoto-chan was on the screen with a serious look on her face, "Huh?"

"Wait! Sapōto-chan!? Anomalies? What!?" Heru exclaimed,

" **Anomalies are disappearing in one minute!** "

"Wait, hold on, what's happening!?" Heru shouted out,

"I don't know but I think we should head over to one of them! I think we can summon our Personas there!" Osore said,

"How do you know?" Heru asked,

"I don't. Now RUN!" And with that, he and Heru dashed towards the nearest black dome,

" **30 seconds remaining before anomalies disappear!** " Sapōto-chan stated,

"Come on. COME ON!" Osore said to himself as he tried to speed up,

" **10 seconds until anomalies disappear!** "

"We're not gonna make it!" Heru called out,

"Yes we can!" Osore called back before focusing on the black dome, "We can make it, we can do this!"

" **9… 8… 7…** "

'We can make it, we can make it…' Osore chanted in his head as just kept running, unable to think of something else,

" **6… 5… 4…** "

'No…' Osore thought as he started breathing heavily, 'No… don't!'

" **Three!** "

"No…" Osore said quietly as he started to slow down,

" **Two!** "

"No…!" Osore growled, not noticing himself glowing green,

" **One!** "

"STOP!" Osore yelled out. That was the last thing Osore remembered before he blacked out.

(12:00am)

"Ugh…" Osore groaned as he sat up. He didn't have a time to check his surroundings as he was hugged by Heru, "What?"

"O-Osore…" Heru sobbed out as she cried into his shoulder, "D-D-D-D-Don't scare me l-l-l-like that…" That's when Osore noticed that Heru was shaking like a leaf,

"Heru, what's-" Osore cut himself off as he noticed the blood splattered everywhere and everything around them had a green hue. The Subete Siblings held onto each other as they tried to figure out what had happened, "Wh-Wh-Wh-Wha-"

"I don't know. I don't know. You just glowed then the world became green and… oh god…" Heru managed to say while hyperventilating, "Don't let go. Please don't let go…" Osore whimpered and nodded before they awkwardly shuffled their way over to the nearest black dome. It took them quite a while but they made it eventually,

" **Reboot complete! Scanning area.** " The siblings jumped a little when they heard Sapōto-chan before sighing in relief, " **Complete. Huh? What? How did this happen?** "

"W-What?" Osore said as he pulled out his phone, "What is it?"

" **Why is the Dark Hour happening? I thought the Shadow Operatives…** " Sapōto-chan muttered to herself before shaking her head noticing the siblings looking at her, " **Oh! Persona Users detected! Updating to Navigation Mode.** "

"Seriously, what the hell is happening?" Heru groaned as Sapōto-chan updated, "I mean, it's not even two weeks…"

" **Hi Persona User! I am the Specialized Anti-Shadow Program of Tomorrow! You can still call me Sapōto-chan, but now that I know you wield a Persona, my job is to help you take down the Spacious Cages that cover Ikemasen and provide information on the adversaries you are sure to face.** " Sapōto-chan said,

"…I am so confused right now." Osore admitted,

"Hold on, you said 'Spacious Cages'." Heru said before looking at the dome, "Do you mean this thing?"

" **That's right**." Sapōto-chan said, " **Spacious Cages are created by someone's overwhelming fear. Non-Persona users cannot see them. If they aren't able to get over their fear within the time limit, or a Shadow attacks them, they commit suicide on the spot.** "

"A-A-And… h-h-how long i-i-i-is th-t-th-the t-ti-time lim-li-l-limit?" Heru nervously asked,

" **Well, Spacious Cages only appear at midnight. Once it's not midnight, it disappears.** "

"That means…"

"We only have one minute to take down these Cage things." Osore finished as they started sweating profusely,

"I was so close to killing myself." Heru muttered quietly before realizing something, "Wait, so these things are the reason for the high suicide rates?" Heru asked,

" **Yes. Though, it looks like the Dark Hour extends it. And it seems one of you were able to trigger it.** " Sapōto-chan said before muttering to herself, " **I should send report on this to the CEO.** " Osore wanted to ask more questions, like what this 'Dark Hour' was, but decided to hold back. They were wasting time, and they needed to save whoever was in this Spacious Cage,

"Well, let's go." Osore said as he got out his stick and was about step into the Spacious Cage, "If we hurry, we can save all of these people."

" **Hold on, before you go. Think about this. Time in Spacious Cages moves much, much slower than out here. One hour in there is five hours out here. I'm afraid that you can only save one person tonight.** " Sapōto-chan said sadly, " **Choose wisely, as the others will not make it to morning.** "

"Shit…" Osore swore, "Oh shit…"

"Is there any other way?" Heru asked as she tried to stop Osore from experiencing a panic attack,

" **We do have Shadow Operatives here but they were always too late to enter the Spacious Cages and save them, and I doubt any of them are nearby.** " Sapōto-chan explained, " **I'm sorry, but the choice is in your hands.** " Heru growled in frustration as she and Osore looked around. The next nearest Spacious Cage was a few blocks from where they were but the others needed vehicles to get to,

"What do we do…" Heru groaned as she sat down on the ground, "We don't even know who's in these things! How are we gonna choose." Osore started thinking about it before looking up at the Spacious Cage in front of them,

"W-What are w-we-we waiting for?" Osore whispered to himself, "It's either we save someone or we save none."

"So… we're choosing this?" Heru said. Osore nodded as he looked around to find a better weapon than his stick. He managed to find a rusty steel pipe and some cloth to hopefully protect him from getting tetanus. The siblings looked at each other and the other Spacious Cages. There was no going back after this, "R-Ready?"

"Ready." Osore said as he took a deep breath to calm himself down. He took one more look at his older sister, both knowing they were deathly afraid. With one last breath, the stepped into the Cage and fell,

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" They yelled as they fell, but it was less out of fear and more out of adrenaline. Pulling out their Charms, they yelled out the only word in their heads before crushing their charms,

"PERSONA!"

(20 Hours Until "Dark Hour" Ends)

"Thanks Deimos." Heru told her Persona. She nodded before transforming back into a marble. The siblings looked around and saw nothing, "Wow, this place is dark." Heru muttered before getting out her guitar and turning on the flashlight, with Osore doing the same, only to freak out when they saw themselves, warped and distorted, "WHAT THE HELL!?" Heru screamed out as they tried to catch their breath. Once they calmed down, they noticed that it was just a mirror on a wall. In fact, there were a lot of mirrors on the wall. There were so many mirrors that they couldn't even see the wall. But for some reason, it wasn't reflecting the light coming from their flashlights, "What?"

"Look at this…" Osore muttered as shined his light around. It seemed like each mirror was unique, distorting their images in some way, "I-It looks l-li-like…"

"Crap, we're in a maze of mirrors." Heru groaned, "Well, no turning back now." Osore pulled out his phone and turned it on,

"Sapōto-chan, do you t-think you can find o-our guy?" Osore asked,

" **Well, from the few we managed to save, we figured out that usually the person is at the center of the Spacious Cage.** " Sapōto-chan informed, " **I suggest you hurry. I don't know how much time you have until the Dark Hour ends.** **I'll scan for enemies in the area, and I'll do my best to provide information and support. Please, be careful.** " Osore nodded before putting away his phone. The two had started walking around, not really sure where the center was. It was really creepy with all the mirrors, and Osore was feeling scared, but they kept pushing in hopes of saving the person from him/herself. They were also feeling paranoid, anticipating an encounter with a Shadow,

"How big is this place?" Heru muttered, "And why a mirror maze out of all things? It could've easily been-"

" **Alert! Shadows incoming!** " Sapōto-chan called out, freaking the siblings out,

"Wah! Where are they!?" Osore shouted out as they frantically searched for them with their flashlights,

"Osore, BEHIND YOU!" Heru yelled out as she started to swing her guitar, "GURENTOU!"

"AH!" Osore yelled in panic as he ducked under Heru's attack, which missed, before they both backed away from the Shadows,

" **There are three Shadows here, all unidentified! Naming Shadows. Lying Hablerie and Cowardly Maya recorded in Enemy List. Scanning… complete! Enemies encountered: 1 Lying Hablerie and 2 Cowardly Mayas. They aren't the biggest threats but be careful.** " Sapōto-chan informed,

"Why is there a giant mouth here!?" Heru whined before she and Osore pulled out their Charms, "Deimos, Agi!" She yelled out as she crushed her Charm and threw the shards into the air. Deimos quickly formed from the shards and shot a fireball, hitting a Cowardly Maya. It seemed to hurt a lot,

" **New data stored! This Shadow type is weak to Fire! Turn the heat up!** "

"M-My turn!" Osore called out as he charged towards the Shadows, "Buchikamashi!" He yelled out as he hit the Lying Hablerie in the… mouth. It yelled out in extreme pain from the attack. He didn't notice the other Cowardly Maya behind him, getting ready to attack,

"Watch out!" Heru exclaimed before jumping in the way of a Cowardly Maya and blocked the attack, "DON'T MESS WITH MY BROTHER!" She yelled out as she Cleaved through the Shadow, destroying it instantly, "Woo! Who's next!?" Suddenly she heard a Shadow yell out in pain behind her. She turned around and saw that Osore has destroyed the Lying Hablerie, leaving only a weak Cowardly Maya left. It was quickly dispatched by Osore with a quick Buchikamashi, "Thanks." Osore just rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged,

"W-We need to h-hurry." Osore said before the continued to walking through the maze. Heru nodded before following him, playing her guitar along the way.

(6 Hours Until the "Dark Hour" Ends)

"This should help!" Heru called out as she summoned her Persona before playing a quick song on her guitar, "Rakunda!" Osore saw that a Shadow had become vulnerable thanks to Heru's song and quickly took advantage of it and destroyed it,

" **All enemies eliminated!** " Sapōto-chan informed them. The sibling sighed in relief as they turned their Personas back into their Charms,

"How long have we been here?" Heru said as she stretched her muscles, "Heck, are we even any close to the middle yet, Sapōto-chan?"

" **Sorry, but I'm just as lost as you two are.** " Sapōto-chan admitted, " **There's so little information I can use and something is messing with a few of my features. I'm sorry I can't be of more help.** "

"It's alright Sapōto-chan. I think we can handle ourselves." Heru said as she played a note,

"St-Still doesn't fix the fact that we need to hurry." Osore said, trying to recover his breath. They've fought a lot of Shadows and he felt they were walking around in circles. And the mirrors were really making him uncomfortable. All he wanted to do was save the creator of this Spacious Cage and go to sleep, "We're r-running out of time."

"There has to be a shortcut or something…" Heru muttered to herself before looking at one of the mirrors, "Hey, do you think there's anything behind these mirrors?"

"P-Probably." Osore replied, wondering for a second why would Heru ask a question like that, until he realized what his sister was thinking about, "H-Hold on, you're thinking a-about smashing these m-mirrors, aren't you?"

"I was, but I guess-" Osore took a deep breath to calm his nerves, his head telling him to both do it and not do it, before smashing one in with his flashlight, revealing that there was no wall. The wall, in fact, were the mirrors, "Oh. Okay then. Let's go."

'This is a really crappy mirror maze.' Osore thought as they walked through the hole, before they heard the crunching of glass behind them. They froze at the sound before they slowly turned around to see grotesque-looking version Osore and Heru limp towards the originals. The siblings backed away from what seemed to be the distorted versions of them, with each step becoming shakier than the last, before they had their backs against the wall, "Wh-W-W-Wh-What a-a-a-a-are th-t-t-th-these t-t-t-th-things?"

" **Give me a second.** " Sapōto-chan said as she quickly scanned the enemies, " **Complete! I'm naming them Mirror Minions. They seem to spawn whenever you smash a mirror, and how many that spawn depends on who's on the mirror at that moment.** "

"But how do we beat them!?" Heru called out, too scared to move,

" **You don't.** " Sapōto-chan informed them in a worried tone," **They're too strong! Run. NOW!** " Osore and Heru looked around and saw that they had backed themselves into a corner, literally. They both started hyperventilating before Heru snapped out of it and got out her guitar,

"RUN!" Heru screamed out before smashing the mirror behind them and running through the hole. Osore jumped at Heru's sudden action before looking at the two Mirror Minions in front of him and two that were just spawning. He decided that maybe he should follow Heru's lead and start smashing. While they screamed in terror, they smashed through mirror that was in their way as they just kept spawning more and more Mirror Minions. Eventually, by the time they had several hundred years of bad luck, an army of twisted versions of themselves after them, "WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

" **Calculating years of bad luck…** " Sapōto-chan said before wincing, " **Oh boy… that is not good.** "

"NOT THE TIME!" Osore yelled out while crying before seeing a large set of double doors made out of mirrors ahead. The siblings looked at each other before forcing themselves to run faster. Osore made it first and tried to pull the door open, but he wasn't strong enough, "Crap! Phobos! HELP ME!" Osore yelled out as he summoned his Persona. Phobos quickly went to work and pulled the door open without much effort, "IN! IN! IN!"

"AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Heru shouted out before diving through the doors while summoning Deimos, "DEIMOS, SHUT IT!"

"Help her, Phobos!" Osore told his Persona while trying to recover his stamina, "Keep the army of us out!" Phobos & Deimos nodded and quickly shut the door. They both struggled to keep the doors from bursting as the Mirror Minions tried to bash the door down. The sibling laid on the floor, too tired to be worry about the cracks forming on the door. Eventually it stopped as Osore & Heru heard the Mirror Minions walking away, seemingly giving up on their relentless pursuit, "That… was…" Osore managed to say between breaths, "A… bad… idea…"

"Too… tired… to snark…" Heru panted out. After recovering somewhat, they stood up and looked arounf and saw that they were in a dark room with a spotlight in the middle. The person in the spotlight seemed to be crying, "I think we found 'em."

"Are you okay?" Osore said. No response. He and Heru looked at each other and nodded before they both walked forward to comfort the person,

"Hey, it's gonna be okay. Just-" Heru was interrupted when she and Osore walked into a wall. Then they noticed their reflections, "Huh? What?"

"What the hell?" Osore muttered to himself as the siblings looked around, but stopped when they heard crying from right behind them. They turned around and saw the person was behind them now,

"Come on, stop crying. There's no need to worr- d'oh!" Heru exclaimed was they walked into another mirror, "What is with all the mirrors!?" They heard crying from behind them again and turned around only see the person on the ceiling, floor and on every wall in the room. Suddenly, they felt _something_ in this room. It scared them. They held onto each other as they saw the person turn his head around and look at them. Heru & Osore's eyes widened as they recognized the soulless eyes staring back at them,

"K-Koibito." Heru whispered out,

"My name isn't Koibito!" He cried out, "It's Dame Baka. I thought… if I became someone else, I would forget about her." He laughed drily as he looked up, "My first girlfriend, my first love… dumped me for another guy. Called me childish and…" He trailed off before speaking again, "I don't know what I did but it still hurt. When I moved to Ikemasen, I thought it was a new start. Changed my name, changed who I was, I thought I'd be happy. I'm not." He then looked down, almost if he giving in, "Now everyone thinks I'm this Knight in Shining Armour! The guy who can barely ride a bike, spends more time inside than outside, still the same goddamn loser that left Inaba two years ago! The people who love me love the mask more than the person wearing it! And if the mask cracks, boom! Liar forever, easiest target in Ike. The biggest _fake_ in Japan. Whoop-dee-freakin'-do." Heru's eyes widened as she realized what she had done,

"I did this." Heru muttered out,

"H-H-H-Heru? Wh-What?" Osore asked, surprised,

"O-Oh God… I-I MADE THIS CAGE!" Heru exclaimed, "Oh God NO! I made this Cage, Osore!"

"It doesn't matter now." Dame/Koibito said, his soulless eye looked straight at them,

"DON'T SAY IT!" Osore & Heru yelled out,

"I deserve to die." Suddenly, all the mirrors cracked before shattering into thousands of shards. Osore and Heru covered their faces as something started to form in the center of the room, the shards ripping up their clothes and skin. They uncovered their faces just in time to see Dame in a cage before being covered in shards. The siblings dropped their weapons and started backing away as the shards started getting covered in darkness, taking shape of a large man wearing a jester outfit with a broken heart in the middle and a drama mask that hid his face wielding a goofy-looking whip. They would've laughed at it if the atmosphere of the room wasn't suffocating them with fear,

" **T-T-T-That's a big Shadow.** " Sapōto-chan squeaked out, as even she felt the fear dripping from the Shadow,

"Shadow Koalemos…" Osore muttered as he & Heru got out their weapons. They were scared out of their wits, but they stood their ground.

If they couldn't save him, they may as well be dead.

"P-P-P-P-P-P-P-P-P…" Heru tried to, she really tried, but she couldn't summon her Persona, not after realizing she might be the reason someone committed suicide. She didn't even notice her Charm disappearing, "I-I-I can't. I can't do-"

"HERU!" Osore shouted out before pushing his sister out of the way of the electric whip, taking the attack for her. He felt thousands of volts of electricity run through his body, and it _hurt_ , but at least his sister wasn't in the situation he was in.

Speaking of which, the whip wrapped around him.

"OH GOD NOOOOO!" Osore yelled out in panic as he was being pulled in by Shadow Koalemos. He tried to break out but his muscles were locking up,

" **NO! OSORE!** " Sapōto-chan shouted out, having been dropped when Osore pushed Heru out of the way, " **Heru! Snap out of it! Osore is in danger!** "

"I-I can't… oh God, I just can't!" Heru yelled out as tears fell from her eyes, "I killed someone! Damn it, I KILLED SOMEONE!"

" **He isn't dead but he will die if you don't so something, and he's taking your brother with him!** " The A.I. called out, trying to sound brave, " **DO SOMETHING!** " Heru tried to breathe as she saw her brother desperately and fruitlessly trying to get out of his bindings and Shadow Koalemos grinning madly underneath his mask. Heru didn't know what to do. Two people were going to die and all she could do was watch.

That is, until she remembered something from earlier and a little secret from when she and Osore were kids.

"HEY!" Heru yelled out, getting the attention of the large Shadow, "Koibito, you wanted to join our band, right!?"

"Y-Yes… but…"

"Bup bup bup! Before you say anything, let me show you what I've got." Heru said with a smile before picking up her guitar. She saw her Charm reappear, 'I don't need you right now Deimos.' She told her Persona before getting her guitar ready, 'For tonight… I'm going solo!' As she started playing her guitar, she smirked as she saw Osore getting out of the grasp of the whip since the Shadow was distracted.

 **Heru:** Uh huh, yeah!

Don't you say that I didn't, didn't

Give you a chance, just didn't listen

Only wanted out, but you just kept that garbage talk, so no blessings

Y'all looking present, I'm already futuristic-cruising

Satisfaction killed me a bit, curiosity brings me back in grooving

"Buchikamashi!" Osore yelled out as he smashed his rusty steel pipe into Shadow Koalemos' face, "What are you doing!?" Heru only smirked before continuing her song while Osore got fought Koibito's Shadow Persona.

 **Heru:** Don't wanna follow order, I oughtta restore that

Told her crossing the border, next corner posing for reporters

Next level explorer with my crew, supporters;

Still conquesting forward with my! Crew!

Just as Heru hit the chorus, she summoned Deimos and got her to join. Osore now knew what his sister was doing. She knew how much he loved music, it was another language to him that only he was able to speak. And she was just guiding him, and by extension his Persona, through the music.

Plus, he knew she was quickly and quietly debuffing Shadow Koalemos between words.

 **Heru & Deimos: **Like the shining stars light the path whenever it's dark!

You keep on blinkin' at me

You never turn away from me, in this vast gloomy, night sky.

Light the Fire Up in the Night!

The journey that we travel for our prize!

No matter where we go, we will not stop the shining forever!

"Damn it!" Osore swore as Phobos got by the electric whip, causing him to feel his Persona's pain. Dark Magic weren't working and his Bash attacks weren't powerful enough to do some serious damage. But from the looks of it, Shadow Koalemos seemed to not like Deimos' lantern, 'Maybe he doesn't like Fire? But I can't do Fire attacks.' Suddenly, he remembered what he did in the Velvet Room before they went out tonight, 'Here goes nothing.' Osore thought as he went into the sea of his soul before returning Phobos back into the Velvet Room Key.

 **Heru:** View that I see is not flat, more like panorama!

More to it, more of a drama, going gorillas, bananas!

I just wanna have a lot of fun in life

Surviving the riding, I'm driving,

No idle in battle, and I keep it dazzle!

"PERSONA!" Osore shouted out as he threw the shards into the air, but instead of glowing green, it glowed purple as it started to form his chosen Persona, "Ukobach! Scarecrow!" Heru gasped in shock as she saw the Devil Arcana Persona nodding before binding Shadow Koalemos to the ground, "Agi!" Ukobach nodded again and quickly shot a fireball into Koalemos' face. Osore smirked as he saw the noticeable damage on the Shadow Persona, "HERU!"

"Oh! Deimos!" Heru called out. Deimos knew what Heru wanted and charged at Shadow Koalemos, "Gurentou!" Heru shouted out as Deimos hit the Shadow Persona in the face with a flaming axe, "YEAH!" Heru cheered, ignoring the cost of the attack as she kept playing the song,

" **I-It looks weak!** " Sapōto-chan informed the siblings. The Shadow was trying to get out of its binds, but it was struggling less. It was their chance to get through to Koibito before it was too late,

'You can do this.' Osore thought as he took a deep breath, "Koibito. Dame. Whoever you are, I understand!" Osore called out,

"H-Huh? What? You… what?" Koibito sounded confused, but it was enough to cause the Shadow Persona pain,

"Look! I-I admit, I don't understand your heartbreak, but I do know what it's like to be scared. To imagine what people might say about me." Osore said, "It sucks… it hurts… to know that the world might be laughing at you because people don't wanna see underneath the surface…"

"And Koibito…" Heru spoke up, "I'm… I'm so sorry! I just… oh God… I know what it truly means to be afraid, but it doesn't mean you should kill yourself over it! …I had to learn that the hard way."

"Heru… Osore…" Dame whispered. Osore saw that the Shadow Persona was almost on its last legs and Dame was close to being free from his cage of fear,

"We don't wanna see Koibito!" Osore called out,

"We wanna see our friend and bandmate!" Heru added in,

"Don't be afraid… TO SHOW WHO YOU ARE!" The Subete siblings shouted out. Dame's eyes widened as something clicked within him, something that he should've figured out long ago.

He didn't need to change to fill the void. He only needed his friends and time.

"Wow…" Dame muttered as he phased through his cage and landing on the ground, "I… am so dumb."

"It's not really dumb, Koibito." Heru said as she and Osore helped him up. Osore then went up to his phone and checked for damage,

" **Sorry I couldn't help more…** " Sapōto-chan said,

"No, you helped a lot." Osore replied while giving her a quick thumbs-up. Sapōto-chan responded by smiling and doing the same before shutting her off. After that, he put it into his pocket and nodded at his new friend. They both knew what they had to do.

 _ **Your fears are my fears.  
Your problems are my problems.  
As underneath it all, we're all cowards.  
And the first step in conquering your fear…**_

"Is to realize you're not alone." Osore, Heru and Dame said before Osore finished off Shadow Koalemos. As the mirror maze collapsed around them, the remains of Shadow Koalemos had transformed and become a necklace with a drama mask as the token,

"Um… okay." Dame muttered as he looked at his Charm, "So… what's happening?"

"Later." Heru said off-handedly before glaring at her brother, "Now, would you mind telling me why you have _two different Persona_!?"

'This is gonna suck.' Osore thought as he nervously backed away from his angry sis as Dame's Spacious Cage finally collapsed.

(The Next Day)

"Wow, Koibito, you're really gonna admit to everyone that you write FanFiction and that you're basically the biggest geek in the world." Heru stated as she smirked at their new keyboardist. They had discovered last night Dame lived rather close to them, and it was a wonder how they didn't notice. So they were walking to school together, "Dude, your rep is gonna plummet."

"Actually, I really hated being popular." Dame admitted, "The girls really only like Koibito, not me. By the way, are you ever gonna stop calling me that. It's kinda insulting."

"I-I-I-I do-d-d-do-doubt i-i-i-it-it." Osore stuttered out, but managed to chuckle nervously, "On-O-Once sh-s-s-she has a-a-a-a na-n-na-n-name f-f-for y-y-you, she k-k-ke-k-keeps i-i-it."

"Either way, welcome to…" Heru trailed off as she realized something, "Crap, we still don't have a stupid name for our stupid band!"

"How about Dame & the-"

"No." Heru quickly shot it down, making Dame feel as though he was shot in the heart, "I want something unique, or at least something meaningful." They thought about a good name before one of them spoke up,

"H-H-H-How a-ab-a-ab-a-a-about... P-P-Per-P…" The words died in Osore throat as he was fighting with himself. Did he really want to call the band that or something different? Osore sighed before stopping and searching his bag for the necessary supplies,

"Huh? What are you?" Just as Dame said that, Osore had written down his suggestion on a piece of paper and gave it to them.

"Persona… Zeroes?" Heru read out loud before looking at her brother, "Really?"

"Well, it is unique and meaningful to us." Dame pointed out. Heru thought about it before shrugging,

"Meh, I've got nothing better so it's the Persona Zeroes it is!" Heru declared, "And since you made up the name, my dear little brother, you're the leader of the band now!"

"HUH!?" Osore exclaimed as he jumped back in shock,

" **Plus, Osore can change Personas! I suggest we make him the leader of taking care of the Spacious Cages as well!** " Osore's Sapōto-chan suggested. Dame's Sapōto-chan and Heru's Sapōto-kun were unaware that their owners were Persona users, as they were left behind that night,

'YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DESIGNED TO RELIEVE BURDENS! NOT MAKE THEM!' Osore shouted at his Sapōto-chan,

"So it's agreed! Osore, you're our leader for now on!" Heru said while giving her sibling a smile, "Make me proud little bro."

"Don't worry, man, I'll help you if you want me to. You helped me after all." Dame offered,

"I helped too!" Heru grumbled,

"Whatever. So, let's do this thing together, dude." Dame said as he held out his hand. Osore smiled awkwardly but nodded and shook his hand anyway.

*SHATTER*

 _ **I am thou… and thou art I…  
Thou hast established a new bond…  
It brings thee closer to overcoming the obstacles that block your way…  
Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas  
of the Magician Arcana.**_

'Social Link done.' Osore thought before fainting on the spot with a grin, rewarding himself for staying conscious while dealing with the fact that he was probably going to doom them all in the near future for so long.

(Meanwhile…)

She stepped off the train and looked at the town in front of her. This place seemed peaceful and quiet, but to her it was a giant crime scene. The crime, however, wasn't really a crime scene. Japan always had a high suicide rate thanks to the pressure of society and other factors, but Ikemasen was a special case. People have been treating this problem as though it was a disease, something that can be cured by a drug or medicine.

But this was not the case today.

No, this problem was a mystery, and it was a mystery she needed to solve before it was too late. And she was going to solve this case no matter what.

Naoto Shirogane didn't earn the name Detective Prince for giving up after all.

(Also meanwhile…)

"This is… interesting…" Mitsuru muttered to herself before taking out her phone and quickly called her most trusted allies, "Guys, you all need to go to Ikemasen. There's something there we need to see." Mitsuru paused to listen to her friends' responses, "Yes, this might involve Shadows but I think there's something more to this than Shadows." Mitsuru said as she looked at the report in front of her, with a photo of Ikemasen, that was taken from a helicopter, showing the town being covered in a black dome. It was accompanied by a date and time.

It was taken last night, at exactly midnight.

Save Game… Quit!

(Character Profile)

 **Name:** Dame Baka (Kiken'na Koibito)  
 **Relation to The Fool** : Partner/Classmate  
 **Gender** : Male  
 **Age** : 16  
 **Arcana** : Magician  
 **Initial Persona** : Koalemos (An large man with a drama mask on his face wearing in a jester costume with a broken love heart on his chest wielding a goofy-looking whip)  
 **Weapon & Light**: Whips and smartphone light  
 **Skilled In** : Elec & Stab  
 **Afraid of** : Forever being the hopeless fool and not being seen as himself  
 **Charm** : Drama Mask  
 **Profile** : Moving to Ike after his girlfriend ended up with another due to him being "too childish" (and other brutal words), he hoped taking on a new name and personality will allow him to get over his heartbreak, and ended up being popular and a ladies' man. But he was still unhappy. He fears that he will never be seen as himself if he keeps the façade up and if he doesn't, he will end up being forever named a liar and a fool.

(Terms)

 **Spacious Cage** : A dark dome that surrounds someone whose fear is starting to overwhelm them. If not taken down in one minute, the person in the middle commits suicide the moment the Cage drops. A Persona User with the Fool Arcana can actually extend the time by willingly creating their own Spacious Cage, which is made out of their own fears. Appearing as if it is the Dark Hour, it essentially extends that one minute into 24 hours before the person of interest becomes overwhelmed by their fears. However, the person attempting to create a Spacious Cage must be basically afraid of everything, yet have the willpower to keep their fears from overwhelming them. Note: A Spacious Cage willingly created by a Fool will not have Shadows in it. Non-Persona Users cannot see Spacious Cages or even enter one. If they are in the area where a Spacious Cage is being created, the Spacious Cage will form around them, basically keeping them safe. The origins of the Spacious Cages are currently unknown.

Whew! Done! See ya all later!

UknownHero signing off, my friends!


	3. Chapter 3: Mundane Days

Hey, UknownHero here and welcome to another chapter of Persona Zeroes! This fic has been recommended on TV Tropes and I am officially declaring OC submissions are closed. No more, the cast has been set. Anyway onto answer a question. To nightelf37: Persona Zeroes takes place after P3 and P4. How long depends on what I'm actually planning. Also, I will acknowledge the creators of the OCs. Side note: Only two really made it in so sorry if your character isn't in the story. Anyway, let's do this.

Load Game… Start!

Chapter 3: Mundane Days

 **(The Fool has joined the Velvet Room)**

 **Igor:** Welcome to the Velvet Room. I see you've created a new Social Link with your friend.

 **The Fool:** Dame Baka.

 **Julie:** Ah… the Magician Arcana. Such a tragic, yet charming Link. Very common for guests to obtain early in their journey, you know.

 **The Fool:** Yeah, about this journey. What am I supposed to do?

 **Igor:** There are others out there that will help you, when a problem is too difficult for you to overcome by yourself.

 **The Fool:** Wait… do you mean, there's more Persona Users?

 **Julie:** You are not ready to establish a connection with them yet, and your bonds with them may be different than from your allies, but don't worry, the connections you make with them will show you how powerful you really are. For now, I recommend preparing yourself. The equipment you have will not last you the journey.

 **The Fool:** Yeah, sticks and steel pipes aren't gonna cut it soon. We're gonna work on that. But first…

 **Igor:** Fusions, I presume.

 **The Fool:** :)

"Hey, are you still doing that Velvet Room thing you told me about during lunch?" Heru asked. It was after school now and the newly named Persona Zeroes were hanging out in their club room. Osore ignored her, too busy fusing the Personas he collected from Dame's Spacious Cage. Speaking Dame, he was practicing on his keyboard while he waited for Osore to exit the Velvet Room, "Damn, he's not listening."

"Well, whatever he's doing, I hope it helps us with what's going on." Dame said as he played a few notes, "Ike's gonna be a ghost town by the end of the year if we don't something about those Cage things."

"Speaking of ghost town, I saw earlier today that your fangirls aren't hanging around your locker anymore." Heru said with a smirk, "No more Kiken'na Koibito?"

"Nope, now it's just Dame Baka; one of the biggest losers in the school." Dame replied with a proud smile,

"'One of'? Who are the others?" Heru asked. Dame pointed at the siblings in response, "WHAT!?"

"Yeah… considering our leader over there is literally afraid of everything and you're a bro-con…"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Heru exclaimed, "I am NOT a bro-con! I'm over-protective!"

"Do you _have_ to wait outside the boy's bathroom when he takes a dump?" Dame pointed out,

"He doesn't like other people in the bathroom with him." Heru admitted with a wince, causing Dame to chuckle. Heru glared at him before she heard Osore growl in frustration. She & Dame stopped what they were doing and turned their gaze to see Osore rubbing his forehead, "Osore?"

"AH!" Osore jumped at Heru's voice and ducked down, covering his head and shivering,

"It's only me, little bro." Heru sighed,

"O-Oh…" Osore whispered out as he stood up, "L-Le-L-L-Let's ge-g-g-g-get ou-o-out of h-h-h-here."

"Fine. We can't really do much without a drummer anyway." Heru said as they started packing up their equipment. A few minutes later, they were walking through the shopping district while Dame was talking about his life in Inaba before he moved away,

"Oh! There was like a time when I was younger that there was this guy who was hanging people off of stuff. I was… 8 years old back then." Dame said,

"Yeah, that's interesting. Good story Koibito." Heru said off-handedly, "Hey, are we Spacious Cage hunting tonight?" Heru asked Osore. The Fool was deep in thought as he tried to plan their next move,

"W-W-W-We n-n-ne-n-ne-need be-b-b-be-better st-s-s-stu-stuff t-th-th-t-than wh-w-what w-w-w-we ha-h-ha-have n-n-n-now b-be-be-b-before w-w-w-we d-d-do a-a-an-a-anything." Osore stuttered out,

"I guess you're right…" Heru muttered as she stopped and took out her guitar, "This thing is gonna break eventually."

"I think your apartment building there's a fireaxe you can use." Dame suggested,

"Koibito, I'm not stealing an axe and I can't deal debuffs without it. Plus it's much more fun using my guitar in fights." Heru explained,

"But guitars aren't a really weapon." Dame pointed out,

"Yeah? Well, what's yours, Koibito?" Dame sighed before he took out from his bag his weapon,

"You're using… extension cord… to fight monsters." Heru deadpanned,

"Hey! This is the closest thing I can get to an actual whip! We have to make do. We aren't exactly allowed to wield real weapons after all." Dame said. Heru sighed as she knew Dame was right,

"Plus, we need something better than our school clothes to protect us. It took me all night to repair our uniforms after what happened and hide all the injuries." Heru said, "And then we have the problem with money as well."

"You sew? I thought…" Dame stopped talking when he saw Heru's glare, "Never mind." Heru stopped glaring and sighed as she realized the Persona Zeroes' next move,

"We need jobs…" Heru groaned. Osore started shivering on the spot as soon as Heru said 'jobs',

"Actually, you two need jobs. I work Manga-Go." Dame said before checking his watch, "Actually, shit. I'm gonna be late. My boss is making me work an extra shift today. I gotta go now. Hey, if you're interested in some manga, I can give you guys a discount but only when it's my shift. Wednesday and Friday. See ya guys tonight?"

"Su-Sure." Osore answered. Dame nodded before running off while Heru turned to her little brother,

"We can look for a part-time later, if you want." Heru said. Osore nodded, mentally thanking his sister, "Right now, we need to find a place where we can get some weapons and armour. If we face stronger Shadows, we're gonna need it." Osore nodded before an idea struck him. He pulled out his phone and turned it on,

" **I'm awake! I'm awake!** " Sapoto-chan quickly said. She quickly changed from her nightwear to her usual clothes, " **What is it, Osore?** "

"D-D-D-D-Isthereaplacewherewecangetweapons?" Osore asked quickly,

" **Um… I didn't catch that.** "

"Is there a weapons and armour shop in Ike?" Heru asked normally as she sighed. She really needed to help Osore with his phobia,

" **No. There isn't a real weapons shop anywhere in Ikemasen.** " Sapōto-chan answered, " **Though I do suggest a place where you guys can procure some better equipment. Actually, it's nearby. I'm setting the location on the map right now. It shouldn't be too hard to find this place.** " She then pulled up the map for them and showed the location. They thanked the A.I. before Osore turned off his phone before they headed off to see the place.

(Donzoko Crafts)

"Well, this is the place." Heru muttered to herself before the two siblings walked into the shop, ignoring the Closed sign on the door.

The place, to put it simply, was a mess. It was dark and dusty, there were boxes of spare parts everywhere, schematics and blueprints littered the floor and the counter didn't have anyone behind it. All together, it created an unsettling environment, which creeped the siblings out. They stayed close together as they approached the counter. They could hear something going on at the back of the shop and it wasn't pretty from the sounds of it, "H-Hello? Is this place open?" Heru called out,

"Just a minute! Oh, come on, where is it?" The Subete siblings raised an eyebrow as they heard the voice. It was definitely a girl, probably around 16, that was for sure. They waited a few minutes for the girl before she came to the counter. They were surprised to see her pale skin, her striking eyes and her long, pure white hair. They saw that she was holding a bunch of cue cards, and that they were colour-coded. She cleared her throat before searching through them and pulling out one of them, "Um… Welcome… to… Don… zoko… Crafts… What." She stopped and pulled out another cue card, "Do… you… re… re… um, what's that word?" the white haired girl asked as she showed the cue card to Osore,

"R-R-Re-R-Require." Osore stuttered out,

"Oh, right. Whoops. Silly me." The girl said as she bonked her head while chuckling before staring at them with a blank look, "… Er… what was I saying again?" The siblings looked at each other as they wondered what the deal with this strange girl was,

"Hey… are you in our class?" Heru asked. The white haired girl looked constipated as though as she was struggling to remember for a few seconds,

"Um… no, I don't think so." She answered, "Why would you think that?"

"Well, considering there's someone exactly like you in our class and the fact you're still wearing the Ike High uniform…" Heru pointed out. The girl looked down and saw the messy state of her uniform. Her _male_ uniform. The dress shirt was button-upped weirdly, her blazer was worn inside out, her pants were held up by multiple belts and her tie was even worse than Osore's. The only thing she got right were her shoes, "How are you a-" Osore covered Heru's mouth before she said anything insensitive,

"I-I-I…" Osore couldn't talk. His throat suddenly felt dry as she tried to speak to the strange girl, "W-We-Wea-"

"Wee? Do you need the potty?" The girl guessed as she tilted her head, "My uncle told me not to let customers use it since I broke it."

"I think we should leave…" Heru whispered to Osore as she slowly started exiting the shop, but Osore stood his ground and started gathering up his courage,

"Wh-W-Wh-Where is y-y-yo-yo-your un-u-uncle?" Osore managed to ask. The girl's eyes widened before she looked down,

"He… is…" The girl slowly said as she rubbed her arm, "He's dead. The police told me he died from suey-sucky-sunny, um…"

"Suicide." The Subete siblings said in unison,

"I think that's it." The girl said, "What is that anyway?"

"How… How old are you?" Heru asked, too stunned about everything about the girl behind the counter,

"Er… sixteen?" The white haired girl answered, though it looked like she wasn't sure, "My name Fukai Donzoko."

"Okay, Fukai, but we need to be somewhere so…"

"We need stuff. We need stuff." Osore muttered to himself before taking in a deep breath, "H-Hey."

"Hey." Fukai said, "…Why are you here again?"

"C-C-Can you m-ma-make us w-w-w-weapons a-and arm-a-a-a-armour?" Osore asked,

"Oh…" Fukai said as she studied her classmate, "Yeah. Yeah, I can. I have some scraps in the back I can use to make some chainmail and some other junk. Tell me what you need for weapons and I'll do my best to please you."

"Um, okay." Heru said, still weirded out by the white haired girl, "Can you make an electric guitar for me?"

"A guitar? Strange, but I can make that." Fukai said as she drew a rough design for Heru's new guitar. It was surprisingly detailed and was done in a minute, "Anything else?"

"A sw-s-s-sword pl-p-p-please." Osore stuttered out, "O-One-handed."

"I think I have something already, but it needs some repairs. You should come back tomorrow but my uncle told me that customers had to pay first." Fukai said. Heru sighed,

"How much?" Heru asked as she took out her wallet,

"My uncle usually takes care of the numbers but I'm guessing…" Fukai looked around as she tried to find numbers to use for the price, "9… 7… 2… 8…"

"No, I think it's…" Heru looked down at her wallet and quickly counted how much money she had, "2000 yen."

"Really? Sorry, I'm horrible at numbers." Fukai said with a small giggle, not noticing the glare Osore was giving his sister,

'We really need jobs.' Heru mouthed at her little brother. Osore could only sigh at his older sister and pulled out his wallet and gave the white haired girl all his money, which came out at around 7000 yen,

"Um… I'm just going to… what was the word? Oh, it doesn't matter." Fukai said as she took the money before taking out one of her cue cards, "Okay. Thank… you… for… using… our… services. Come… back… to… Donzoko… Crafts… at… any… time."

"Okay, see ya." Heru said before the Subete siblings left, "Hey, next time, we go out of town to buy weapons."

'No wonder you have the Devil Arcana.' Osore thought as they started walking towards to a ramen restaurant called Mr. Ramen. They were felt like getting some ramen into their system after their interactions with the white haired girl. They haven't gone there before and from the amount of people that were there already… well, it wasn't popular to say the least.

As in, they were only ones there.

"You'd think this place would be a bit more... anything." Heru muttered as they took their seats. After a few minutes, they got their menus from a waiter and picked what they want. As Heru ordered their food, Osore was looking around. It had this homely feeling to the place. It was clean, it had a nice orange glow around the restaurant and it had photos of various famous people who had come into the restaurant for a bite over the years. It seemed like it was famous for until something caused customers to stop coming. Osore wondered how Mr. Ramen lost its popularity. Osore snapped out of his thoughts when the food arrived. Taking his first bite, it had become apparent how the place lost its business, "This tastes like crap."

"I-I know." Osore whispered, not wanting to offend the chef just in case they were listening in, "T-The meat is o-overcooked, the n-noodles are u-undercooked, the broth i-is basically w-water and it tastes l-like it was re-r-reheated with a m-m-microwave."

"You think they're hiring?" Heru said. Osore looked around and saw that there was a Help Wanted sign for a new chef near the entrance, "Maybe you can help them out."

"I-I-I-I d-d-do-d-don't kn-k-kn-k-know…" Osore muttered, his stutter kicking back in, "I'm…"

"We need more money for equipment." Heru reminded him,

"I-I-I-I-I'll d-d-do it, t-t-to-tomorrow." Osore said, "A-Af-After F-F-F-Fukai g-g-gives us o-o-our eq-e-eq-equipment."

"No, you're doing it right now." Heru said before grabbing her brother's collar and dragging him to the counter,

"H-Hold on!" Osore called out as he started panicking. Heru ignored him and got a waiter to get whoever was running the place for them. Soon, they met the guy running Mr. Ramen, whose name was actually Taro Ramen, and Heru tried to convince him to hire Osore part-time,

"Look, Mr. Ramen may be going out of business on Sunday but we aren't that desperate enough to hire a 16 year old kid with no resume or anything. I'm sorry, but…"

"Hold on." Heru quickly said as she quickly figured something out, "If the place is closing down, why not just risk it and do anything and everything to keep the business going? You see, we have a band and if we manage to bring more people in before Sunday, you will have to hire Osore. You don't even pay us until then. Just give us a chance." Mr. Ramen started thinking about it for a good bit before he came to a conclusion,

"If you manage to bring customers in again with your little band, I'll have to hire you." He clarified as he looked at the nervous looking boy. Osore nodded, "Alright. You have until Sunday to bring people in. But if you don't, obviously the restaurant closes down."

'And there goes our chance of getting more equipment.' Osore though,

"Yes! Thank you sir, you won't regret it!" Heru said with a smile.

(Some time later)

'I'm regretting this already.' Osore thought as he, the angry Dame and the whimpering Herupā walked home,

"WE DON'T EVEN HAVE A DRUMMER!" Dame yelled out,

"But we needed the money…" Heru said before sucking it up and glaring at the keyboardist, "Anyway, we don't have a choice. No one else is hiring in the shopping district and Osore is too goddamn scared to go anywhere else!"

"So let's assume we're gonna pool our money into one big pile. I work at Manga-Go and Osore works at Mr. Ramen. What are you doing, bro-con?"

"I'M OVERPROTECTIVE!" Heru shouted out, "Anyway, to answer your question, I'm thinking about making and selling t-shirts or something. You know; Persona Zeroes merchandise."

"We don't even have a song ready." Dame said, "No, wait. We don't have a song, period. How are we going to write a song within a week? And how the hell are we going to sell t-shirt if we suck?"

"We won't." Heru said, "Osore, you're going well with the bass, right?"

"Y-Yeah." Osore answered nervously, even though he thought he sucked,

"See. Anyway, back to more serious matters." Heru said. The boys put on serious looks as they knew what Heru was talking about, "Little bro, you think we're ready to save some people tonight?" Osore thought about it for a few minutes as they continued home before he gave his answer,

"I-I th-t-t-th-think w-w-we sh-s-sh-s-should g-g-go."

"Okay. We'll meet in front our apartment building tonight. Bring your stuff." Heru said before turning to Dame, "And for the love of God, Koibito, get something better than extension cord for your weapon."

"Sure, let me get my machine gun in my closet." Dame deadpanned before heading home, "See you guys tonight." The siblings waved good-bye before they started heading home.

(Some time later)

Osore woke up after a few hours after creating the Dark Hour and saw Dame and Heru looking around, "D-Do you see any?" Osore groaned as he stood up,

"Nope." Dame answered, "I don't see any."

"Maybe there isn't any tonight." Heru guessed. Osore frowned before pulling out his phone,

"S-Sapōto-chan, c-can you detect some Spacious Cages?" Osore asked,

" **Let's see…** " Sapōto-chan said as she checked her sensors, " **There are none in this area. But I am detecting one really far from here.** "

"How far?" Dame asked,

" **Well, if you were to go by foot, you wouldn't make it before the Dark Hour ends. I recommend getting a vehicle of some type.** "

"Shit." Heru swore, "So, does anyone have, like, a bike or something?"

"Wait, you're 19! Don't you have your driver's license?" Dame pointed out,

"Er… that isn't important right now." Heru said nervously, "Plus, we're not stealing a car."

"Well, we can't do anything tonight." Dame sighed, "I guess we should turn it in tonight."

"W-We have t-t-to try!" Osore spoke up,

" **There are Shadow Operatives in town right now and I'm receiving a report indicating that they are taking care of it right now.** " Sapōto-chan informed them,

"See, we can turn it in for the night. Come on, we can use the extra time to work on the song." Heru suggested. Osore sighed in defeat,

"A-Alright." He said. He was still tired from school and he just really wanted to sleep. Plus, he needed to fuse more Personas. It was becoming a bit of a hobby, "Okay, let's go home."

"Well, have a good one." Dame said,

"Night." The Subete siblings called back. They went back to the apartment and worked on the lyrics on the song until the Dark Hour ended. After that, they went to bed.

 **(The Fool has joined the Velvet Room)**

 **Julie:** Welcome to the Velvet Room. Igor isn't here right now but rest assured; I can fuse Personas as well and Igor should be back soon. Do not let earlier events discourage you. I am sure it was only chance that you got Legion from Fusion Accidents 4 times in a row.

 **The Fool:** Thanks. That makes me feel better. Insert sarcastic tone here. Alright, let's do this.

 **Selecting Personas…**

 **Fusing Personas...**

 **-Error-**

 **Legion has appeared from the sea of your soul!**

 **(The Fool has left the Velvet Room)**

 **Julie:** Oh. This… might be a problem.

 **(Julie has left the Velvet Room)**

Save Game… Quit!

Whew! Done! I need to do stuff. Later!

UknownHero signing off, my friends!


End file.
